In a message dated 2/16/2001 7:36:54 PM Eastern Standard Time, bounousb@i... writes: bounousb@i... writes:
<< 1) If you can find a good teacher get one.
response: i have worked with ten teachers in my life, some famous with well deserved reputations. none of them taught me as much as i have taught myself. so, i guess in a way, i have that covered.
2) A good technical book is Jan Sullivan's "The Phenomena of the Belt/Pop Voice" ISBN 0-913943-06-1
res: i hope it's cheap.
3) Belt is a soft yell. It has a very 'young' sound.
res: ah! this rings a bell! i have often used 'yell in your head', 'yell backwards' and 'give me a nice yell'.
4) The higher you go, the softer (or "further away") and more intense it becomes.
res: hmm...tell me more. this is totally foreign, at least, the description is.
5) It uses a squared mouth. The higher you go the more the vowels are modulated forward.
res: there are so many ways i could misinterpret this one. if you could go into a little more depth, that would be most helpful.
6) It uses very firm abdominal support.
res: as i moved away from classical singing and went into more pop type singing, i associated singing with a nice yell. i used to think i didn't bother supporting anymore until i fealt my abs with my hand and realized it happened naturally.
7) It is ok for the larynx to become SLIGHTLY elevated. It should not be shoved up.
res: i find singing easier if i 'let it ride' a little and i find most pop styles require the larynx to ride a little.
8) It uses good soft palate lift but without the usual laryngeal lowering.
res: alas, i never could feel that damn thing!
9) It is NOT nasal.
res: only the french would yell nasal.
The hard part, indeed, for most people is the "connecting it to singing" that you mention. If you have had other training, the exercises are fine, but the minute you begin to sing a song you will tend to revert to your strongest training. The worst thing you can to is to inadvertantly combine classical loudness levels with belt laryngeal intensity. If you do that you will feel vocal strain. Otherwise it should be easy as you describe. When the breath is balanced the voice is healthy - the trick is to find the right balance at high intensity levels. If it makes you hoarse, froggy, or sore - STOP IT. The sound should be young, brassy, fun, intense (but not loud - subtle but important difference), flexible, responsive. It should not be stiff, heavy, a bellow, a scream, or nasal.
res: i think the biggest obstacle to my finding a use for the extreme high range is that i really don't have a use for it. my philosophy of singing is that it should resemble speaking as much as possible so that the inadvertent expression we've developed since we first started using our voices 'betrays' our true thoughts on the subjects we sing about rather than having some constructed artifice. for my own sake, i'd be better off making sure my low range stays strong.
barry,
thanks very much for the information. you have been very helpful in clearing up some of the mystery surrounding the word 'belt'. i suspect when i am singing plainly the music that suits my nature best, i am belting to some extent. any elaboration you would care to go into on the subject would be most welcome.
thanks, mike
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